In 2016, I wrote a blog post about a wedding song by Vienna Teng. While wedding songs can be super-romantic love songs. Maybe Jack Johnson wrote some tune about his wife that resonates with a couple, or people are drawn to Madonna's "True Blue". Maybe one of Burt Bacharach's songs from "My Best Friend's Wedding". What stood out about Vienna's song "City Hall" is that it's doubly social political piece about LGBTQ+ rights. It is about when then-mayor Gavin Newsom allowed same-sex couples to marry and have their marriages legally recognized by the city of San Francisco. This period of municipal legality lasted just under one month's time, but that moment in 2004 lives on in the hearts of many. Vienna (a Bay Area native herself) wrote a song from the perspective of a couple who had driven a great distance and waited many years for the opportunity to marry. The song mentions the mass celebration at SF City Hall, the lost generations of community members who had fought for such a right. The final verse addresses the eventual repeal of Newsom's ruling. Proudly asserting that while politicians may take away that marital ability, there was no taking away the love and celebration that happened in San Francisco during that period.
This song was my introduction to Vienna Teng's music. Pandora's algorithms can create the most soothingly melodic sound baths when focusing a "station" on Ani DiFranco, Natalie Merchant, or the Indigo Girls. I get it. Yes, this also speaks of my musical tastes. Immersing myself Merchant's "Tigerlily" tracks and sultry Melissa Etheridge love songs, I was learning of the Waifs, the Wailin' Jennys, Po' Girl, Bearfoot, and Brandy Carlile. After empowering myself to experience music live and in the company of fellow fans, I've caught up with many of these artists. Hopefully Odessa Jorgenson (from Bearfoot's "Doors & Windows" lineup may tour through New England).
I first saw Vienna Teng perform in 2022 at Club Passim (by Harvard Square). It was the earlier of two shows she was performing that day, and it's the one concert post-lockdown where I wasn't able to present as out. My breast inserts were at home, and I didn't have time to leave my day job going in one direction, and then race back into Cambridge as my proud trans self. It was great listening to setlist that explored seven albums. I was sitting among impassioned fans requesting deep cuts like "Kansas", and we all clapped along with "City Hall". The most fascinating part about seeing Vienna Teng perform that night was in seeing how she nerded out over musical skills and the merging of electronic and traditional techniques. With a looping devise, a drum pad, and a harmonies tool, the audience gets to see a musician create, mix, and build up songs live. As if you're watching a teppanyaki prepare dinner in front of your table (with a flair), the audience at a Vienna Teng show gets to watch intricate layers of music get recorded in the present and incorporated into that night's performance. When I saw Ed Sheeran working his foot pedals at Boston Calling this past spring, I considered him to b on par with Teng when it comes to that awesome mixing technique.
In 2024, I'm now writing blog entries that are more longform, though I wish that I had the time and energy to maintain that daily rate of productivity. I watch the frequency of big shows grow as the northern hemisphere reaches summer. By November, I'm scheduling shows for coming months while this years live events slow down. I'd compare it too the rate of kernels popping in a bag of microwave popcorn.
One show that caught my eye was Vienna Teng playing the City Winery Boston. Unfortunately, I was late arriving at the restaurant, and have got to remember that North Station has a closer surface level exit than Haymarket. That said, I missed most of Peter Mulvey's opening set. From what I saw, he's a down to earth folk musician, with heartfelt lyrics. "Vlad the Astrophysicist" stood out the most. In ways, it reminded me of James Taylor's "Sweet Baby James". A difference being in how JT wrote a lullaby written for his nephew, and this was a letter that Mulvey wrote to his niece. Put to music, this piece of correspondence developed a paced cadence when delivered which could arguably be free verse poetry. Another commonality between the songs is about the songwriter's reflections through the course of travel. What sets this apart (especially from most picture books) is that Peter's book explains extraterrestrial life, but through the magnascopic lens of cosmological existentialism. This is a credit to the titular Vlad for teaching a lesson about infinite number of civilizations that exist for one period of time or another in whatever coordinates through space & time. Credit additionally goes to Mulvey for relaying Vlad's lesson to a broader audience (initially, his then-infant niece). The skill in Peter's delivery is just icing on the cake. Vienna Teng joined Mulvey for the last song of his set, a piece called "Are You Listening". Vienna's harmonies remind me of how Joy Williams would sing refrains for songs on the Civil Wars albums.
During the intermission, I met a couple from Northampton, MA, They were more familiar with Mulvey than Teng, and we had discussed how Peter had once been one of Boston's talented buskers playing music in the streets, parks, and subways of the city.
While sipping my tea, I started getting some art supplies out. The lighting at the City Winery isn't always that great for the camera feature on my Samsung A21, so sketchbook and brush pens were my next option. After drawing some practice sketches, I thought that I may be able to complete some value and lighting studies using my the drawing feature on my phone's "notes" app. In the past, I had used that method for some landscapes and cartoons, but never the human figure. What a delight it was. The last of the three pieces wasn't complete by the end of the set, by I was so pleased with the result. The experience reminde0d me of figure painting classes that I had taken while in art school.
The opening song for Vienna's set was "Augustine". I liken this to the Indigo Girls' song "Galileo". Both songs look to theologians from millenniums past. In both examples, the songwriters may not adhere to the creed of scripture analyzed by the iconic ancients, but these modern women look to the past for guidance in how to practice spirituality in the now. "Stray Italian Greyhound" also takes an introspective look at one person trying to live a meaningful life while taking an overwhelming world in more manageable bites. With "Harbor", you get a love song about someone wanting to be there as a supportive partner while their significant other makes trips out to the deep seeking answers. This tour allowed Vienna Teng to showcase a new technique that she applied for 2024 project "We've Got You" where where successively, one track is performed while sampling the previous piece in the tracklist. In the context of a Vienna Teng live show. we as an audience got to witness each layer of the song recorded live as the "Spark" composition builds up into ""Comfort", and the combination becomes part of "Two Truths"). Seeing this all done live gives the audience the unique opportunity to see such a complex song get built specifically for their ears. Vienna Teng is finding innovative ways to creatively nerd out with her looping device and choral modulator. Like seeing Peter Frampton ad-lib with his "talk box' guitar accessory, seeing the combination of hardworking and artistry right before you gives one a deeper appreciation for everything that goes into the performance.
I got to meet Vienna at the merch table. After showing her my drawings, and I bought a signed print featuring the lyrics to "We've Got You". The pative effort by Vienna and her step-daughter Indigo Corvidae. I also got a "We've got You" tee shirt. When I tried guessing the tone of the stock fabric I was told about how the Recover company creates their fabric out of recycled cloth. Excited by the concept, I noted that in showing the varieties of source colors is the Recover fabric stock, it makes every shirts' end result visually unique.
Coming home (through North Station), I wrapped my new tee-shirt over the corners and edges of the poster. Such an amazing shirt particularly helps a less known musician reach more people. I hope that my writing also helps to connect you (my readers) to such artists.
Until Next Time
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